Adrian Peterson is going to keep eating shrimp despite shellfish allergy

That illness Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was listed with last week? It was shellfish. Shrimp, more specifically. (Shrimp from Detroit, most specifically.) Not swallowed tobacco.

Peterson cleared that up in a conference call with Chicago-based media in advance of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears, and yet he told the group that he would continue peeling and eating. No biggie, despite having a shellfish allergy that — in theory — could send him into life-threaning anaphylaxis.

It’s a big enough concern that Peterson carries around an EpiPen. But pass the cocktail sauce, he said.

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“People will be like, ‘Well, why do you eat shrimp when you know you’re allergic to it?’” Peterson said. “Well, here’s the thing. I’ve eaten shrimp my entire life and shrimp is not my [biggest worry]. When you get the [allergy] test done … let’s say for instance you’ve got scallops, you’ve got lobster, you’ve got shrimp and let’s say there’s peanuts they’re testing you for. OK, you might swell up more when it’s lobster. You might have a bigger allergic reaction to the lobster than you do to the shrimp. Shrimp might just swell up a little bit. That’s what it is.

“Shrimp is just like a little reaction [for me]. Now lobster, and especially scallops, that’s when I really swell up. So I can kind of get away with [shrimp]. I know it is playing with fire. But I can kind of get away with eating shrimp.”

Back in 2012, Peterson felt that fire. He ate a bowl of jambalaya at training camp and was rushed to the hopsital for treatment. Peterson said that incident and what happened last weekend — the Detroit shrimp deal — were apples and oranges. Or bivalves and univalves.

“There was no comparison,” Peterson said. “I just had a stomach bug [in Detroit]. And I was good after awhile. I just needed to [lie] down and get in the fetal position for a little bit and sleep it off.”

As for the rumors and reports that Peterson had rather swallowed chewing tobacco, which was the cause of his illness? Peterson said that was a joke started by Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner. What a ham!

So the bottom line is that Peterson is going to continue doing something that he knows is bad for him. But it’s no big deal because it’s not that bad. But it was bad enough to where the Vikings felt compelled to report the injury. But … oh, heck, what are you planning to eat this weekend, Adrian?

“I will be a little bit more cautious with what I eat,” Peterson said.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm